BATON ROUGE, LA, 6/9/2011-The Southwest Center for Rural Initiatives and Southern University Ag Center are sponsoring the 7th annual Agromen Livestock Field Day for youth, June 11, 8 a.m.-noon on Airport Road, Opelousas. The Agromen group offers the field day to teach children about the benefits of farming. The event is free for youth ages 18 and younger.

"We are a group of individuals who are involved in some aspects of agriculture," said John Vallien, former Opelousas mayor and secretary of the Agromen. "Some are in livestock, others in horses, some are in gardening. Our goal is to get the young people involved in some aspect of it."

The day's activities will range from animal petting areas to classes on the health and money-saving benefits of farming. A highlight of the day includes special guest Marvin White of the Cincinnati Bengals. Children will learn through hands-on demonstrations about nutrition, caring for goats, ducks, chicken and rabbits gardening, leadership and bio-diesel fuel.

"We want to teach them the value of land ownership," said Vallien. "Because a lot of young people inherit land and they sell it, and they don't realize that agriculture is the backbone of the area, of the nation. Agriculture feeds the world, and they can eat very inexpensively."

In addition to workshops and animal interaction, young people will learn about programs like Hefier International, which provides livestock and training to families who promise to give one of the livestock's offspring to another family in need.

Event contact: call 945-5722 for more information.

Read more online at the Daily World: http://www.dailyworld.com/article/20110609/NEWS01/106090316